And when Joab had come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him again from the well of Sirah: but David knew it not.

And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, who lay on a bed at noon.

And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life; and the LORD has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his descendants

And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings:

And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: who spoke unto David, saying, Except you take away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here: thinking, David cannot come in here.

And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who dwells between the cherubim.

Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!

And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, who chose me before your father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I make merry before the LORD.

And I will yet be more contemptible than this, and will be abased in my own sight: and of the maidservants whom you have spoken, of them shall I be held in honor.

In all the places in which I have moved about with all the children of Israel spoke I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, Why build you not me a house of cedar?

And when your days be fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who shall proceed out of your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.

Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?

And what one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make himself a name, and to do for you great things and awesome, for your land, before your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?

And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan has yet a son, who is lame on his feet.

And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the captain of their army, who died there.

Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went you near the wall? then say, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

And, behold, the whole family is risen against your handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that struck his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my ember which is left, and shall not leave to my husband either name or remnant upon the earth.

And the woman said, Why then have you thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king does speak this thing as one who is faulty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished one.

Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!

And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house.

And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

Unto whom David said, If you go on with me, then you shall be a burden unto me:

And the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD has said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why have you done so?

And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth of my own body, seeks my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD has bidden him.

And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide.

And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in your father's presence, so will I be in your presence.

And I will bring back all the people unto you: only the man whom you seek will be struck: so all the people shall be in peace.

And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and they who are with him are valiant men.

Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down into it.

And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.

And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, You have shamed this day the faces of all your servants, who this day have saved your life, and the lives of your sons and of your daughters, and the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines;

And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak you not a word of bringing the king back?

And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.

And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in confinement, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.

Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.

But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:

And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:

And Ishbi-benob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to slay David.

And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, who was of the sons of the giant.

I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from my enemies.

For who is God, except the LORD? and who is a rock, except our God?

You also have delivered me from the strivings of my people, you have kept me to be head of the nations: a people whom I knew not shall serve me.

Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lifted up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lion-like heroes of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in a time of snow:

For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, who was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number you the people, that I may know the number of the people.

But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.

And you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, that you should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

Is this thing done by my lord the king, and you have not showed it unto your servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne this day, my eyes even seeing it.

Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his belt that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

And, behold, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword.

Now therefore, as the LORD lives, who has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.

And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing of it, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.

So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; who went out, and struck him, so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

Give therefore your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this your so great a people?

And when I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead: but when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I did bear.

And these were the princes whom he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest,

And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision.

The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; who had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife:

Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land.

And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

And, behold, I purpose to build a house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke unto David my father, saying, Your son, whom I will set upon your throne in your place, he shall build a house unto my name.

And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given unto David a wise son over this great people.

Besides the chief of Solomon's officers who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who ruled over the people that labored in the work.

And his house where he dwelt had another court inside the porch, which was of like workmanship. Solomon made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken as his wife, like unto this porch.

And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with your servants that walk before you with all their heart:

Who has kept with your servant David my father what you promised him: you spoke also with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.

Whatsoever prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall know every man the affliction of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

And forgive your people that have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:

And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have laid hold upon other gods, and have worshiped them, and served them: therefore has the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel,

Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, of those did Solomon conscript for forced labor unto this day.

These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, who bore rule over the people that did the work.

Happy are your men, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, and that hear your wisdom.

Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king, to execute justice and righteousness.

And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

And likewise did he for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice,

And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; who gave him a house, and apportioned him food, and gave him land.

And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house: and Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh.

And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliada, who fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him ruler all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:

And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)

But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and who stood before him:

And he said unto them, What counsel give you that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which your father did put upon us lighter?

But as for the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor; and all Israel stoned him with stones, so that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made haste to get himself up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

Therefore the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

And he made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places whom he had made.

And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah.

And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the donkey, for the prophet whom he had brought back.